Leners hopes breaks go his, Knights way this fall

Friday

The story of Trace Leners’ junior season is a reminder of how quickly things can change in a young man’s life.

He wants his senior season at Sacred Heart to be an example of how adversity can be a learning experience, changing life in a positive way.

An arm injury in the second game of the 2017 season put Leners on the sideline for the next five games. A potential season-ending injury for some, Leners did everything he could to get back on the field before the season ended.

He did just that in Week 8, with the Knights scheduled to face county rival Ell-Saline. Early in the second quarter, after playing one full defensive series, he broke the same arm again.

“It showed me you have to battle through the tough times and the adversity,” Leners said. “Not just in sports but in life.

“You are going to get knocked down but you’ve got to get back up again and persevere. It can make you a better person. As hard as it seems to get through, you’ve got to see the bigger picture and move on.”

Making the entire series of events even more frustrating was the remarkable start for Leners and his teammates in the one full game he was able to complete last season. Leners had seven catches for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the Knights win over Minneapolis.

Exactly one week later, he was sitting in a Russell hospital, where X-rays showed he broke both the radius and ulna in his right arm.

“After putting up really good numbers the first week, it was exciting to think about what the rest of the season had to bring,” Leners said. “It happened on the 10th play of the Russell game. I played a series and broke it on a fake punt play.

“I didn’t know it was broken at the time. Coach got me off the field and we were looking at it. I said ‘Can I play, can I play,’ but he told me to sit out. We had Dr. (Kyle) Elmore on the sideline and my hand was shaking and I couldn’t control it, so we went to get an X-ray.”

The original prognosis indicated Leners might have an outside chance to return for the final week of the season. That was enough to motivate the two-way starter, who didn’t enjoy the view from the sidelines for five consecutive weeks.

“It really didn’t sink in until a week (after the injury) and the team was warming up on the field, and I realized I wasn’t going to be out there with my brothers playing the game I love on Friday nights,” Leners said.

“They told me at the time I would be out six to eight weeks but I was thinking more like four to six. I didn’t want my season to end right there after a strong Week 1.

“It ended up being six weeks to the day that I came back against Ell-Saline. And then I rebroke it.”

Not only adding insult to injury, but adding injury to injury. He had received medical clearance to play and was limited to playing defense only. It was literally an unlucky break.

“I played one possession of defense and then on the first play of the next possession, I was making a tackle and the player’s knee landed on the same spot,” Leners said. “It was a crazy coincidence.

“Dr. (Todd) Herrenbruck told me it would take the perfect hit at the perfect angle at the perfect moment to happen again. I said I wasn’t going to be that unlucky and then it just had to happen.”

Trace, the son of Jana and Brad Leners, can find some humor in a situation that probably didn’t seem the least bit funny while it was happening last fall.

“The first time I broke my arm, we were sitting in the emergency room in the Russell hospital,” Trace said, “and my dad said ‘Better now than in Week 8.’

“Of course, then it happens again in Week 8. We’re sitting in Urgent Care and my dad says ‘I probably shouldn’t have said that.’”

After all the doctor’s exams and appointments, all the games and practices watching from the sidelines, Leners is ready to make up for lost time. He is once again projected as a two-way starter for the Knights at linebacker and receiver.

"With Trace, he's always very calm and his demeanor is the same no matter what," Sacred Heart coach Garrett Galanski said. "He hasn't really expressed it but I can feel it ... his desire to get back out there and play.

"You can tell in practice and our scrimmage how much he wants to be back out there. He does his talking on the field."

“It seems like yesterday we were playing Southeast in Week 1 my freshman year and I was super nervous to be out there playing,” Leners said. “Time flew by and now we’re seniors and leaders of the team.

“I’m excited to see what the season brings for us. We’re really optimistic and excited to see where this team will go. We just have to stay healthy, that’s number one, and the coaches think this team can go pretty far.”

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